Volthoom
History Origin Volthoom was originally a human who came from an alternate universe. This was during the height of the Maltusians civilization when they had developed their technology to its peak. At this point, the scientist Krona began his experiments in observing the beginnings of the universe. This was considered dangerous by his brethren, as legend had forbidden it. After conducting the experiment, a vessel emerged and from it exited a figure in a spacesuit. Calling himself Volthoom, this being seemingly tutored the other Maltusians in the power of the Emotional Spectrum and at some point was given the name of The First Lantern. However, during one of Krona's experiments involving the Great Heart, he witnessed the creation of The First Ring, which he attempted to claim for himself, only to be infused with the combined emotional awareness of the Maltusians themselves. He was deemed dangerous and unstable by the nascent Guardians of the Universe who were threatened by his great power. Thus, it was ultimately decided to imprison him within The Chamber of Shadows located in a black hole, where he was trapped inside a lantern shaped construct for untold millenia. A number of Oans remained behind to ensure that The First Lantern was kept imprisoned and became known as The Hidden Ones, while those that remained embarked on their mission of policing the universe with the Manhunters. The First Lantern's custodians and wardens vowed that he would never be released, due to the dangers he posed. According to Krona, the Guardians were responsible for betraying the First Lantern. His only legacy on Oa was within The Foundry in the area that stored the Power Gauntlet, where an inscription mentions The First Lantern. The Rise of The Third Army After the War of The Green Lanterns, the Guardians decided that their second army, the organic Green Lantern Corps, had failed as an interstellar police force due to the their emotions and free will. Thus, they decided to move to bring about their replacement in a group that they called The Third Army. To achieve this feat, they returned to The Chamber of Shadows where they were forced to battle The Hidden Ones for the First Lantern. Despite their former kin's protestations, the Guardians took the First Lantern and departed for Earth where they used the being's cosmic power to create the Third Army from the Oans own flesh. Once done, they dispatched their Third Army to convert organic sentients into more of their kind as part of a campaign to remove free will from the cosmos. During this time, the First Lantern demanded to be released and vowed that he would be freed whereupon he would torture as well as kill the Guardians. However, the Oans were adamant in ensuring the First Lantern did not escape and that they would remove him once he had served his purpose. Volthoom remained trapped in this state until the height of the Guardians plans in assimilating the cosmos with their Third Army where they tricked their Green Lanterns into an ambush on Oa. During the battle, the Third Army and the Oans fought not only their Green Lantern Corps but the White Lantern Kyle Rayner as well as Manhunters that had been reprogrammed by Atrocitus. The overwhelming onslaught led to the Guardians tapping more into the power of the First Lantern but this act shattered his prison. His freedom affected all the combatants on Oa where he captured the Guardians and began torturing Ganthet to see the mistakes in his life and the reasoning on why these mistakes were made. However, Volthoom's power was greatly weakened by the Oans tapping into it and thus he was not able to affect reality whilst going through Ganthet's memories. Thus, he reabsorbed his power from the Third Army leading it to dissipating into dust whereupon he decided he needed reservoirs of emotional energy of sentient beings. As a result, Volthoom began to go through his captured foes in order to tap into their memories and torture them emotionally. The Wrath of The First Lantern In his weakened state, Volthoom began entering into the minds and memories of the various beings present on Oa with the intention of examining their lives. This was with the intention of seeing how their life choices had changed them and altering events in order to see them suffer. Among those that suffered these invasive processes were Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, John Stewart, Carol Ferris, Hal Jordan and Atrocitus. In addition, once freed, the First Lantern began torturing the Guardians of the Universe and revealed his ties to them when he showed that he was the one responsible for tapping into the Emotional Spectrum. To grow in power, he needed to feed on great sources of emotional energy which he gained first from the destruction of Korugar and later by claiming the Great Heart on Maltus. With his powers at their height, Volthoom then reclaims the First Ring that Ganthet had kept within himself. With the intent of using the Central Power Battery as a conduit he would be able to alter the fabric of reality and conquer all of creation. However, he faced the combined might of all the warriors from the Emotional Spectrum. These included the vengeful Sinestro, who was angry over the destruction of his homeworld and bonded with the Parallax Entity. In addition, the recently deceased Hal Jordan returned as a Black Lantern and awoke Nekron from his prison in the Dead Zone. He utilized The Lord of The Dead to weaken Volthoom by separating him of his connection to the Emotional Spectrum, which, after Nekron sliced him in half, ultimately led to his defeat. Powers and Abilities Powers *'Reality Manipulation:' This power was deemed too powerful hence his imprisonment. After his release he caused cracks in the fabric of reality *'Predictions:' He has some link with the Book of the Black and as such was able to pull Simon Baz and B'dg through it. Abilities *Indomitable Will Equipment *Book of The Black Weapons *Power Rings Notes *During an interview, Geoff Johns commented that The First Lantern will feature in a cross-over event called "Wrath of The First Lantern" and commented on the characters role in the story: : "I don't want to say he's a villain or a hero," Johns says of the First Lantern, who was introduced in DC Comics' recent Green Lantern Annual. "He's just a being who's targeting our main lanterns, our guys, to see if there's a way that maybe the universe could improve if they made different choices in their lives. : "You'll see why he's called the First Lantern within the story," the writer adds, "but he's someone who's going to take a look at every one of our heroes and main characters and really tear their life apart and rip them open in a way we've never seen before on a very cosmic scale." : "He's a very different ancient powerful character who has a very odd and disturbing point of view on the universe and on humanity and life, and where life can go wrong or go very good," Johns explains. "He's really not a guy who's motivated by revenge not completely or by power. : He has it all he's a being who's just very, very inquisitive about life and the choices we make." Trivia *The character´s name could be a reference to Vulthoom, an inhuman god of Old Mars, appearing and referenced in several stories by Clark Ashton Smith. Later, Lin Carter incorporated Vulthoom into H.P.Lovecraft´s Cthulhu Mythos. *The name was also used in 1964 as the entity who granted Power Ring, an evil counterpart of Hal Jordan from another universe, his powers. See Also *Volthoom/Gallery Links *http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Volthoom_(Prime_Earth) *http://www.comicvine.com/the-first-lantern/29-85389/ Category:Former Green Lantern Corps Members Category:Former Guardians of the Universe